Chapter 133: 133. Chapter 133: The Reason for Liking

133. Chapter 133: The Reason for Liking

Hearing Luo Xixi finally catch on and ask this question, a look of surprise appeared on Yan Yu's face. However, it wasn't the embarrassment or awkwardness of being seen through; he was simply shocked, and he said:

"Luo Xixi, are you for real? I chased you all the way to this world, then helped you through various tasks, and ignored the plot just to make my presence known to you—and you're only just now realizing that I like you?"

"Ah, this..."

Luo Xixi was choked up by Yan Yu's retort.

She hadn't expected this guy to admit it so straightforwardly! Did the word "embarrassment" not exist in his world?

Now, it was Luo Xixi who felt somewhat awkward and embarrassed. She shrank her neck and retorted to Yan Yu: "What's so surprising about realizing it just now? You never confessed to me in the previous life either, and you were always working against me, throwing cold water on me. Who likes someone like that? It's a good thing I have strong mental fortitude, otherwise, I would have been angered to death by you long ago."

Yan Yu, however, laughed out of extreme anger and said: "When did I ever throw cold water on you? Back at the Laboratory, you idiot were single-mindedly trying to complete the mission to return to your foster parents, not knowing that according to the plot, you would have a mental breakdown and go kill their biological daughter."

"But when you actually went to do it, you would have been thoroughly counter-killed by the true daughter who had completely read your combat data. At that point, you would have been a complete clown villain Cannon Fodder. I kept reminding you from the sidelines just to tell you not to hold too much hope for that family. Only when hope is low will there be no disappointment. I was protecting your life, you ungrateful wretch, you don't understand my painstaking efforts at all!"

"..."

Hearing these words from Yan Yu, Luo Xixi fell silent again.

She seemed to recall Gu Chexi saying something similar—that she wasn't just a vicious Cannon Fodder meant to set off his white moonlight, but even during her time at the Laboratory, she was nothing more than Cannon Fodder meant to highlight how much the foster parents loved the true daughter.

If it was really as Yan Yu said, if he hadn't stopped her in the end, she would have done something irrational and met a deathly ending.

So.

Was he really just trying to save her, rather than deliberately making sarcastic remarks and throwing cold water on her?

Seeing Luo Xixi go quiet, Yan Yu snorted again and asked: "Why aren't you talking? Do you know my painstaking efforts now?"

"..."

Luo Xixi was speechless.

If it was really as she thought, then Qiyuan had indeed been quite good to her back then!

And he also said that he was a natural possessor of Self-Awareness, not a personality that awakened while following the plot, which meant he had been looking at this world from a god's-eye view from the very beginning and was unaffected by the Transmigrator.

Isn't that too much of a cheat?

Luo Xixi stared at Yan Yu secretly for a few seconds.

Yan Yu glanced at her and said coldly: "If you have something to ask, then ask. Why are you acting all shifty-eyed like that?"

Luo Xixi blinked and asked: "Qiyuan, if you possessed Self-Awareness from the start and weren't disturbed by the plot, then why did you help me avoid a deathly ending? When exactly did you start liking me?"

Who would have thought.

The person who was quite frank just a moment ago suddenly became tsundere after being stared at by Luo Xixi's direct gaze. He turned his face to the side and said: "None of your business, go guess for yourself."

Luo Xixi: "!!!!"

This jerk!

Teasing her, are you?! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

"..."

Seeing Luo Xixi become pouty, with a little expression of wanting to hit him but holding back, the corners of Yan Yu's mouth curled up imperceptibly.

Asking him when he started liking Luo Xixi?

Actually, Yan Yu couldn't remember such things clearly either. By the time he realized it, he had already fallen for this girl.

He liked her vibrant appearance, as if she had endless energy. For her goals, no matter how bitter or tiring it was, she could grit her teeth and endure it. Although, when she really couldn't hold on, she would still hide away and cry, but in front of others, she would become invincible, always the brightest kid among that group of test subjects.

Such a Luo Xixi was a very dazzling existence to Yan Yu.

Because although Yan Yu had awakened his Self-Awareness back then, he was a very pessimistic person.

He realized that this so-called world was nothing more than a Book World that those systems could dominate and change at will. Those systems were like gods, and anyone in the Book World could be manipulated by them as they pleased, their individual wills altered.

This was a terrifying thing.

It was like a friend who was laughing and joking with you today, but perhaps because of "plot requirements," tomorrow they would hate you to the bone for no reason, wishing they could kill you. You wouldn't dare to truly build a relationship with these people because there was no possibility of a real return; after all, they were all "fakes," without even souls of their own.

Yan Yu didn't want to associate with such people.

So before Luo Xixi appeared, Yan Yu was actually a very gloomy and indifferent person, not the cheeky, smiling bad boy in Luo Xixi's impression.

Luo Xixi's unyielding and resilient personality slowly pried open Yan Yu's cold shell, allowing him to gradually release his true nature and attempt to invest feelings into this "fake" for the first time.

He didn't know if it was because he was always tripping her up and bickering with her, but those emotions constantly infected her, and she gradually gained Self-Awareness, becoming more like a living person.

But before Yan Yu could be happy, he discovered that Luo Xixi was just a small piece of Cannon Fodder in the plot.

All her efforts and persistence were, in the settings, clown-like behaviors; she couldn't see her own position clearly, was wishful thinking, and in the end, she would collapse because of it, commit the vicious act of killing the "innocent" true daughter, and then be killed in one blow by the cold and decisive true daughter, completely exiting the story.

Because he knew she would have such an ending, Yan Yu tried even harder to throw cold water on her afterward, telling her not to daydream, that her foster parents didn't love her at all, and making her recognize reality.

Although judging by the results, he prevented Luo Xixi's deathly ending.

But Yan Yu never expected that the system would be so despicable. After Luo Xixi broke away from the original plot, it immediately arranged her into another plot line, making her a clownish supporting character meant to set off the male lead's white moonlight.

Seeing that idiot once again single-mindedly working herself to the bone for that Gu Chexi, Yan Yu felt that this girl was stupid, yet he also felt heartache that she had done so much, only to remain a small supporting character in someone else's story, with settings that were exactly the same—a villainous Cannon Fodder who only knew how to be wishful and self-moved.

And these two huge blows completely extinguished the drive in this girl.

When Yan Yu came to this world and met Luo Xixi, he discovered that this girl had changed.

The girl who used to have seemingly endless vitality had become decadent, depressed, and resigned to her fate. She used to think that human will could overcome heaven, that she should just do it first and talk later, but now she would admit defeat before even starting, always thinking about leaving the stage for others to perform while she contentedly stayed a salted fish.

Although Yan Yu thought this was quite good—after all, in this world, the system was the one that dominated everything, and an NPC, even if they awakened Self-Awareness, couldn't possibly win against the system's absolute power.

But even if she was "lying flat," Yan Yu still liked her, because he knew the essence of this girl had not changed.

All her logic of action was because she had love in her heart.

It was precisely because of love that she was willing to work hard for the people she loved, and it was also because of love that she would become depressed when hit by setbacks, but when she had someone she wanted to protect again, she would rise up once more.